This invention relates to an article sorting method in which a variety of articles conveyed on a conveying path are sorted out so that they are distributed to other predetermined conveying paths, and an article sorting system for practicing the method.
One example of an article sorting system of this type is a travelers' baggage sorting system employed, for instance, at air ports. At an air port, it is necessary to sort out travelers' baggage according to the travelers' destinations. The system operates to sort out pieces of baggage according to information given by the destination tags attached thereto.
FIG. 8 shows the arrangement of a conventional article sorting system 51. As shown in FIG. 8, a carriage 55 is moved along a track 53. When the carriage 55 is at a baggage receiving station 61, a piece of baggage 57 is loaded on the carriage 55 from a loading belt conveyor 67 driven in the direction of the arrow "A". Next, the carriage 55 is stopped at a baggage transferring station 63 which is selected according to the sorting data of the piece of baggage 57. At the baggage transferring station 63, a belt conveyor 59 provided on the carriage 55 is driven so that the piece of baggage 57 is unloaded from the carriage 55. More specifically, at the baggage transferring station 63, the belt conveyor 59 of the carriage 55 is driven to move the piece of baggage 57 in the direction of the arrow "B", so that the piece of baggage 57 is transferred onto a distributing belt conveyor 65 or a shooter. The track 53 is preferably endless. A number of baggage receiving stations 61 and a number of baggage transferring stations 63 are provided along the track 53.
With the system, it goes without saying that sometimes one piece of baggage 57 is loaded on one carriage 55 so as to be sorted out, and when plural pieces of baggage to be handled have the same destination, then they may be loaded on one carriage 55 so as to be sorted out.
In the conventional article sorting system, the carriage 55 has only one conveyor 59. Therefore, the carriage is allowed to transfer a piece or pieces of baggage therefrom only in one direction at a time. Hence, in the case where pieces of baggage to be handled have different destinations, they must be loaded on different, respective carriages. This lowers the baggage sorting efficiency undoubtedly. Furthermore, in the case where there are a great many pieces of baggage to be sorted out, the baggage sorting efficiency cannot be increased without increasing the driving speed of the carriage 55 and the conveyor 59. Accordingly, it is necessary to make the baggage sorting system rigid enough to withstand the high speed operation. Therefore, the conventional system is heavy and bulky.